Ukraine, the United States signs economic agreement Trump seeks as a return on war support – state
The United States and Ukraine announced Wednesday that Ukraine announced an economic deal to compensate Washington for billions of military and economic aid to help Ukraine fight back the Russian invasion after a week-long press conference by U.S. President Donald Trump in Ukraine.
“This partnership allows the United States to invest with Ukraine, unleash Ukraine's growth assets, mobilizes U.S. talent, capital and governance standards to improve Ukraine's investment environment and accelerate Ukraine's economic recovery,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a video posted to X.
The news is at a critical moment in the war as Trump is increasingly frustrated by leaders of Russia and Ukraine, a brutal battle that is delaying.
The U.S. president criticized his Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for prolonging the steps of the murder and denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin for complicating with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a deadly strike against Kyiv.
Trump met with Zelenskyy at Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday.
Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko celebrated the breakthrough in an article on X.
“Along with the United States, we are creating funds that will attract global investment,” she said.
Both sides only provide quasi-rib details about the transaction structure, but are expected to give the United States its precious rare minerals in a bid to ensure the continued support of Kiev in the run-in with Russia.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during his appearance on Ukrainian TV that Ukrainian Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svilrydenko flew to Washington on Wednesday to help close the deal. A senior Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that although the main part of the agreement has been resolved, there are still obstacles to overcome because the official has no right to discuss the matter publicly.
For Ukraine, the agreement is seen as key to ensuring access to future U.S. military aid.
“It is indeed a strategic agreement to create an investment partner fund,” Shyhal said. “It is indeed an equal and good international agreement to establish and restore Ukraine's co-investment and restore co-investment between the U.S. and Ukrainian governments.”
Trump began pushing for a deal in February that he hoped to obtain Ukraine’s rare earth materials as a condition for continuing support in the war, calling it reimbursement for billions of dollars in aid to Kiev.
But negotiations stalled after U.S. and Ukrainian leaders held a tense Oval Office meeting and a deal was reached afterwards that relations between Washington and Kiev proved difficult and tense.
Negotiations seemed to have been delayed until shortly before the parties confirmed that an agreement had been signed on the deal.
Bessent said earlier on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting at the White House – Ukrainian officials said a deal was almost reached for hours, but there is still work to be done.
Asked about reports that Ukraine is ready to agree to the deal, Besent said: “The Ukrainians decided to make last-minute changes last night.” “We are sure they will rethink.
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He did not elaborate on the late changes he said Ukraine made.
The United States has been seeking access to more than 20 raw materials that are strategically critical to its interests, including some non-media, such as oil and gas. These include Ukraine's titanium deposits for the manufacture of aircraft wings and other aerospace manufacturing industries, as well as uranium for nuclear power, medical equipment and weapons. Ukraine also uses lithium, graphite and manganese, which are used in battery cells.
Kiev believes that after the initial U.S. deal draft disproportionately favored American interests, it introduced new regulations aimed at solving these problems.
According to Shyhal, the latest version will establish an equal partnership between the two countries and last for 10 years. Financial contributions to the Joint Fund will be cash in cash, and only new U.S. military aid can be included in the U.S. share. Aid provided before the agreement is signed will not be counted. Unlike earlier drafts, the deal would not conflict with Ukraine's path to EU membership, a key clause in Kiev.
The Ukrainian cabinet approved the agreement on Wednesday, giving Svyrydenko the ability to sign in Washington. Once both sides sign, the Ukrainian parliament will need to approve the deal before it can take effect.
Putin needs answers before joining the ceasefire
In Washington's efforts to stop the war, negotiations are in a difficult progress.
Putin supports a ceasefire before peace talks, “but before it is completed, it is necessary to answer some questions and break down some nuances,” said Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman. He added that Putin is also preparing to negotiate directly with Ukraine without prerequisites to seek a peace agreement.
“We realize that Washington wants to make rapid progress, but we want to understand that the Ukrainian crisis solution is too complex to be done quickly,” Peskov said in a daily call with journalists.
Trump expressed frustration at the slow progress of negotiations aimed at stopping the war. Western European leaders accuse Putin of stagnation as his troops try to capture more Ukrainian land. Russia has occupied nearly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory since the Moscow forces launched a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
Trump has long viewed the war as a waste of life and American taxpayers’ money, a complaint he repeated at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. This could end military assistance that is crucial to Ukraine and impose more severe economic sanctions on Russia.
We hope both sides can speed up
The State Department once again tried to push both sides to move faster on Tuesday, warning that the United States could withdraw from negotiations if there was no progress.
Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce quoted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying: “We are now on two specific proposals.”
Russia effectively rejected a proposal for an immediate ceasefire by the United States, which allowed it conditionally to block Ukraine's mobilization efforts and supply of Western weapons to Kiev.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed on Wednesday that Ukraine accepted an unconditional truce only because it was postponed to the battlefield where larger Russian troops prevailed.
Ukrainian civilian casualties are rising
Meanwhile, Ukrainian civilians are killed or injured every day in this year’s attacks, according to a UN report submitted by New York on Tuesday.
The UN Human Rights Office said in its report that in the first three months of this year, it verified 2,641 civilian casualties in Ukraine. That's almost 900 more than the same period last year.
In addition, from April 1 to 24, civilian casualties in Ukraine increased by 46% compared with the same weeks in 2024.
Daily grinding of war shows no sign of relaxation. Ukrainian officials said Russia's night drone attack on Kharkif, Ukraine's second largest city, injured at least 45 civilians.
Also on Wednesday, Ukrainian security authorities claimed that its drones attacked the Murom instrument engineering factory in Russia's Vladimir region overnight, causing five explosions and fires in military facilities. This claim cannot be verified independently.
The proposed news writer Fatima Hussein contributed the report.
